Page 23 of Burning Love

As she continued to scream, she watched as a growing number of survivors rushed out of the various hangars and outbuildings.

Then, with an earsplitting shriek of metal, the fence gave way.

The undead poured through the opening like floodwater through a broken dam. The first wave tumbled forward, limbs tangled, their decomposing bodies piling atop one another before lurching upright again. Some were missing eyes, their sockets black and weeping, while others had their jaws hanging loose, snapping ineffectively at the air. One had no lower half at all—just a trail of guts dragging behind as it clawed forward.

Alex’s felt like she was about to be sick, but there was no time. She had to act fast.

“Shit!” Alex roared, raising her rifle. “Hold the line!”

She squeezed the trigger. The recoil slammed into her shoulder, but she held steady. The first bullet cracked through a zombie’s skull, sending a spray of bone and gore into the air. The next hit a woman in a tattered floral dress, her ribs visible through a gaping hole in her side. She dropped, twitching as her fingers scraped the dirt.

Gunfire erupted. The air around her lit up in bursts of muzzle flashes. Henry’s shotgun blasted holes through torsos, sending chunks of rotting flesh flying. Dorian’s blade flashed as he fought at close range, slicing through tendons, severing limbs. The putrid smell of death mixed with gunpowder and blood, coating Alex’s tongue, burning in her nostrils.

She pivoted, dodging a grasping hand as a particularly large zombie lunged for her. Its skin sloughed off in sheets, revealing slick muscle beneath. Its breath reeked of decay, a putrid exhale of death and filth. Alex swung the butt of her rifle up, catching it beneath the jaw, then followed up with a bullet through its forehead. It crumpled instantly, but three more lurched forward to take its place.

She kept moving. Fire, pivot, fire again. Her hands worked on instinct, muscle memory taking over. But it wasn’t enough.

More kept coming.

To her left, Henry took down three in rapid succession, but a fourth lunged at him, and he barely had time to shove it off. Dorian stumbled, his blade slipping from his grasp as he tried to reload. Screams rose in the air as the compound’s defenses buckled.

Alex’s mind went to Sophia.

She wheeled around, scanning the chaos, her stomach dropping when she spotted her. Sophia was near the storage shed, frozen in place as a lone zombie broke free from the mass and lurched toward her.

In that moment, something deeper than fear struck Alex—something undeniable. Sophia wasn’t just a fleeting thrill, a bright spark in the darkness of this new world. What they had shared a few nights ago was the most passionate thing she had ever experienced, but it was more than that. Sophia was warmth, resilience, and sharp-witted kindness. She made Alex laugh when she believed she had forgotten how, challenged her in ways no one else did, and saw through the walls she had spent most of her life reinforcing. The thought of losing her now was unbearable.

Adrenaline surged through Alex’s veins, but beneath it was something even stronger—a desperate need to protect what she had barely begun to understand.

“Move!” Alex shouted, sprinting toward her.

Sophia snapped out of her paralysis at the last second, twisting away just as the thing reached for her. Alex reached her, grabbing her wrist and yanking her back. She drove her knife into the creature’s skull, shoving the body aside before turning to Sophia.

“Are you hurt?”

Sophia was trembling from head to toe, but she nodded. “I-I think I’m okay.”

Alex didn’t have time to process the relief that flooded her. “Go. Get inside. Find somewhere safe. Now.”

Sophia hesitated, eyes darting between Alex and the chaos. “But?—”

“Now, Sophia! Go!”

Finally, Sophia turned and ran, disappearing toward the nearest hangar where the women and children were taking shelter. Alex exhaled sharply, pivoting back toward the fight.

The battle raged on for what felt like hours. But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, even though it was probably no more than a few minutes, the last of the undead fell. The remaining bodies twitched before going still. They had won this battle, but just barely.

Alex started barking orders. “Secure the fence again with whatever we have. Check the wounded! Burn these goddamn stinking bodies.”

She was running on pure adrenaline when she heard a quiet, broken voice behind her.

“Alex.”

She turned.

Sophia stood a few feet away, her face pale, her hands stained a strange pinkish color. She looked down at her own arm, and Alex followed her gaze…

A bite mark. Ragged. Red. Deep.

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